CA MAU – Ms. Quach Kim Y, U Minh district, over the past 4 years has been going to the cajuput forests to look for bumble bee pupae, people often call ‘devil-faced’ bees, which have very dangerous venom.
On the morning of Tet, Kim Y prepared protective gear, knives, scissors, and bags and drove a motorboat to the bee hunting area about 30 km from home. An hour later, she was at the edge of the forest, turned off the engine, and rowed her canoe deep into the forest to find the beehive.
After about 30 minutes of searching, the young girl identified a swarm of bees flying low so she quickly followed the trail. Determining the nest about 500 meters away, Kim Y pulled to the shore wearing protective gear and carrying a knife, preparing to approach. When everything was ready, she cleaned up the surrounding trees and vines and approached the beehive. In just 10 minutes, the girl put the nest filled with bee pupae in a bag and then left to look for traces of another nest.
Just like that, the young girl wandered around the cajuput forests looking for beehives. She usually finishes work at 3:00 p.m. to go home with her 6-year-old son. Kim Y sells each kilogram of bumble bee pupae for 250,000-800,000, depending on the time. One day she can earn 300,000-500,000 VND – the main source of income for a three-generation family of 9 members.
In the past, due to her mother’s poverty, Kim Y decided to return to live with her biological parents after 2 years of marriage. Because the house at this time is just a small hut that is about to collapse, and the parents are old and weak and cannot earn an income. Food, clothes, and money forced the young girl to find every way to make a living.
Having just finished 9th grade and having young children, she had many difficulties finding a suitable job. Being agile and hard-working, Kim Y goes from setting traps to catch snakes to hunting bees and honey bees, but family life is still lacking.
During her hunts for bees and flies, she often encounters wasp nests, but is very afraid of them. Because someone in the locality was stung to death by this ferocious bee. Out of curiosity, she went online to research and found out that many people were looking to buy bumble bee pupae at high prices. At the end of 2019, Kim Y decided to order protective gear online for 500,000 VND, convincing her family to pursue the profession.
In the following days, she started hunting hornets without any experience. Right at the first beehive on a riverbank, Kim Y was overwhelmed by its large size, more than 80 cm in diameter. When touching the nest, the bees came out and released venom that made her eyes sting. Although it was quite difficult and difficult to breathe in the tight protective suit, she successfully retrieved the honeycomb.
During a job, an accident happened to a young worker. Due to not being careful while removing the nest from high above, the venom splashed into her eyes, causing her eyes to become red and swollen, so Kim Y had to take a few days off work. However, she is still determined to conquer the hornet’s nest. Because Kim Y calculated, just taking four groups would have paid back the investment in buying protective gear. If you are diligent, your family life will definitely be better.
At that time, there were also people near her house who were hornet hunters, but she was afraid to ask for their experience because their secret was “needing food”. While working and learning, Kim Y summarizes the points to note in the profession. Even though she is a daughter, to have money to take care of her family, every day she has to walk many kilometers through forests to find beehives.
Just like that, the shy girl became more and more bold, “subduing” hundreds of hornet nests. In addition to having to get used to walking in the forest, the difficulty of the job is that the worker must be able to withstand wearing protective gear weighing more than 5 kg. “I’m most afraid of the hot months because things are thick and tight. The best way is to get the honeycomb quickly,” Kim Y said.
According to Kim Y, to determine where the wasp nest is located, the key point is to find bee flying marks. Whenever there are a few bees flying slowly looking for prey, their nest is less than a kilometer away. If you encounter bees flying quickly and chaotically, their hive has been taken away by someone else.
At first, there were no customers. After getting the bee pupae, she introduced them to sell to acquaintances. As the quantity increased, Kim Y was forced to take it to the market or advertise it online. Recently, she has had a stable source of bee pupa consumption. Customers order young bees to process into dishes, soak in wine or fish.
The hornet’s nest consists of many layers, looks like a ball or cabbage, and the surface is wrinkled, so people call it “devil-faced bee”. This species is attracted by the smell of human sweat. Therefore, when their nest is attacked, bees will send a signal to other bees to chase and fight. Many people accidentally destroy their nests and are stung and killed by bees.
Although she has a lot of experience, while collecting bees and flies about a year ago, Kim Y accidentally stepped on a wasp nest while not wearing protective clothing. She was stung 7 times by bees and fainted. A week later, she “thought she was dead” when she was stung by bee venom and had to take two months off work.
Unlike honeybees, bumblebee hunters do not use fire or smoke, so it does not affect the prevention and control of forest fires in the dry season. The bee hunting season usually starts from November of the previous year to April of the following lunar year. Each beehive weighs an average of 2-3 kg, with some large nests weighing 5-6 kg.
After removing the hive, the worker will return to get a new one after 25-30 days. If this time is exceeded, the young bees will hatch and no longer have pupae. For nests with hatched bees, Kim Y will leave them behind so they can continue to develop.
($1~24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet (Vinlove.net)